Study 4 from “The Work of Faith” Study on James: James 2:14-26
“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.”
– Isaac Watts (1707)
from the hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
Questions for initial thought: How can we know if we are growing in our faith? What does active faith look like? How should faith challenge us, make us uncomfortable, or transform the way we live?
Gospel living – Christian living – means leading lives that look different than those of the world around us. James’ letter is an invitation and exhortation for believers to consider what it means to have the “implanted word” of Christ as a living and active reality of life. Yes, the Gospel calls us to self-examination and transformation, but James is also quick to point out that this change doesn’t happen of our own strength. Rather, it is learning to “speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty” that brings true and lasting change (Js 2:12). As we saw last time, Jesus’ perfect fulfillment of the Royal Law means the Law no longer brings condemnation; rather, it is a “law of liberty” that shows us what it looks like to grow into His image, through His mercy and grace.
But the challenge is not just understanding these truths in an intellectual way, but learning to live in light of them, and allow them to actually shape and transform our actions. James will unpack this point throughout his letter, with multiple practical examples. But prior to focussing on individual examples, James wants to make it clear that true, active faith MUST be accompanied by a life that demonstrates this faith in action. To put it in trendy language, active faith is radical faith that takes place in the midst of the trials and temptations of the normal Christian life. True faith is a faith that challenges us to act outside of our comfort zones; it is faith that looks countercultural as it calls us to be sensitive to the urging of the Spirit (the implanted word) in our lives.
The Uncomfortable Challenge of Active Faith (vv. 14-17)
Ask yourself: How do you think we might be tempted to live a life of “faith” without works? What do you think it looks like to be sensitive to the Spirit at work in our lives?
It is, as James has said, the “law of liberty” that frees us to live out our faith, to love others, to challenge earthly standards and begin to see richness and success defined by the Gospel (cf. Js 2:12, 1:25). Yes, liberty in Christ frees us to put our lives in accordance with His perfect, holy, “royal law” for His set-apart people. But James is going to take it a step further now in 2:14ff. If we truly claim to know Jesus Christ, and to have the implanted word at work within us, this must necessarily be reflected in the way we live our lives.
So James makes an argument with his listeners:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Js 2:14-17)
James answers his own rhetorical question, “what good is it…?” at the end of this paragraph: it is NO good: faith without works is dead. But how is this possible? Is James being too harsh? Haven’t we heard and learned that the miracle of salvation is that it is by grace alone, not by works? James himself has pointed out this fact in various ways in his first chapters, that salvation is of “his own will” and work (1:18); that He Himself has given “the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (1:21); and that through the law of liberty (fulfilled by Christ), “Mercy triumphs over judgement” (2:13).
But James is not negating the incredible reality that salvation comes by faith. Rather, he is pointing out that the implanted word of faith is, as it sounds, living and active. Just as a planted seed will grow and bear fruit under the right conditions, so also should a life of faith bear fruit, as it is exposed to the Word of Truth and Law of Liberty. A life of faith does not just speak truth; it is sensitive to the calling of the Word of God. A life of professed “faith” that bears no fruit at all is evidence of no faith or dead faith.
Perhaps this seems simple enough. We might look at our lives and think, “I go to church; I read my Bible; I talk with my neighbor; This is evidence of faith in my life so I don’t need to worry.” But consider James’ audience: they were the early church. They were believers, and so the question for many of them was less about whether or not they had faith, and more about whether that faith was living and active. Not unlike us, they were experiencing the trials and temptations of living the Christian life in a society that valued riches and knowledge over transformational living.
James is pointing out that a life of true, active faith means sensitivity to the voice of the Spirit speaking truth into our lives. It means truly learning what it means to be “doers” and not just “hearers” of the Word of God (cf. Js 1:22). It means seeing a need, and rather than giving a Biblical-sounding blessing, allowing God’s eyes of compassion to soften our minds and hearts towards that need. It is a challenge to not simply know the Gospel, but to act in faith even when it feels uncomfortable, as we feel the prompting of the Spirit.
In short, living, active faith goes against our desire for a purely intellectual faith; it means allowing ourselves and pushing ourselves to heed God’s calling to love others, even and especially when it feels uncomfortable, not because these actions will save us, but because we can trust He is already at work! Growth in faith looks like not just praying for a need, but then acting, even and especially in weakness, because we can trust the strength of the implanted word! Indeed, true faith (as the puritan and hymnwriter Isaac Watts so eloquently wrote) “demands my soul, my life, my all.” It must transform not just our minds, but our actions along with it.
The Counterculture of Active Faith (vv. 18-26)
Ask yourself: How do you think our culture informs the work of faith? In what ways might acting in faith prove countercultural? Or even feel countercultural or “radical” in our Christian circles?
But James is not finished. He knows his audience (and the human heart!) well, and he knows the arguments that come when we feel challenged or pushed out of our comfort zones to serve and act. In his rhetorical style, he preempts the question that he knows is in the minds of his listeners: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Js 2:18). Yes, James knows we are tempted to think that surely faith is enough! And indeed, we are saved through faith alone. James is not negating this fact.
And yet, James knows that true faith is transformative. Giving intellectual ascent to truth is not the same as true, transformative faith: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!,” James warns (Js 2:19). True faith works its way deep into the soul, such that the believer is no longer the same person he or she was prior to salvation. True, active faith demands not just head knowledge, but a heart that is willing to follow, even when the culture says otherwise.
So James provides two examples of this living, active, countercultural faith. In the first example is Abraham, God’s chosen “father of the faith” to whom God gave His covenant promise to make him into a great nation through whom all the nations would be blessed (cf. Gen 12:1-3). After decades of waiting upon the LORD (and sometimes struggling to believe), God granted Abraham a long-awaited son, Isaac. Isaac was a picture that God would indeed fulfill His covenant promises to Abraham and his descendants, in and through all of the perceived odds.
And yet, as Isaac was still a boy, the LORD asked Abraham to do the unthinkable: to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham’s response was one that demonstrated years of growing in faith, and allowing his faith in God’s unchanging promises to shape his actions. So James says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works…” (Js 2:21-22). James’ point is not that Abraham’s action somehow contributed to his righteousness before God: God had already called Abraham to Himself and made His covenant promise with him. But this radical, counterintuitive work of faith demonstrated the active, growing nature of Abraham’s faith in God. Decades of seeing God’s promises unfold meant Abraham was able to act with eyes of faith when human understanding would say no. “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb 11:19). This kind of action, James says, is necessary evidence of true faith that has penetrated not just intellect, but the heart.
Perhaps we look at Abraham’s life and think that such radical acts of faith are for seasoned believers: after all, Abraham had already spent decades of life walking with the LORD when God called him to sacrifice Isaac. But James points out that active faith is necessary for all of life, for young believer or old. So he contrasts Abraham with the example of Rahab, the Canaanite woman in Jericho who acted in faith to hide the spies. “And in the same way,” James writes, “was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” (Js 2:25). Rahab had only heard of the LORD from the testimonies of the Canaanites who were witnessing God’s powerful hand with these desert wanderers. And yet, the reality of her young faith led her to act against her culture, and hide the Israelite spies, because she too, trusted the LORD beyond what her human eyes could understand.
And this is James’ point: true faith challenges our human nature to action, even (and especially) when it feels countercultural, counterintuitive, and uncomfortable. True, active faith proves itself in humble obedience to the LORD, allowing our consciences to be pricked by His Word at work in our lives, and acting even when we cannot understand the outcome, humanly speaking. Faith in action calls us to sensitivity to the LORD’s voice, and obedience in the midst of weakness, in the midst of the trials and temptations of the normal Christian life. Faith in action demonstrates growing up into maturity, rather than stagnant faith.
This is a pivotal point to understand in James, as he urges the church towards practical, lived-out faith. True faith necessitates a response; truly hearing God’s word is indeed transformative. Faith is not a legalistic list of things to accomplish; God’s work of His implanted word shines in our lives as we learn to hear His voice, and act in obedience, trusting that He will use these actions for our good, and for His glory, and the growth of His Kingdom. May we grow bold in heeding His voice, as He alone establishes the work of our hands!
Questions for Reflection & Prayer:
How does today’s study challenge or encourage you? Where have you seen evidence of faith in your own life? In what areas have you felt prompted to serve and act? Where have you found it easy to make excuses for not acting in faith? What do you think it looks like, practically, to become sensitive to the voice of the implanted word in our lives? How do we grow in this sensitivity? What does it look like to act in faith, even if our hearts feel behind? How does this passage in James give us hope to learn to act in accordance with God’s Word, even (and especially) when we feel weak or weary?
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